1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to Monster DC Sniper, a production of iHeartRadio and 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:08,400 Speaker 1: Tenderfoot TV. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast 3 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:12,080 Speaker 1: are solely those of the podcast author or individuals participating 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: in the podcast, and do not represent those of iHeartMedia, 5 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: Tenderfoot TV, or their employees. Listener discretion is advised. 6 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 2: Monday, October seventh, two thousand and two. It's now day 7 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 2: six of the Sniper investigation. After two whole days with 8 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,880 Speaker 2: no shootings, the area seemed calm, but that feeling didn't 9 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 2: last long. 10 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 3: It happened very early in the morning, well before the 11 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 3: buses or any classes began. 12 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 2: This is Karen Pumphrey, a former teacher at Tasker Middle School. 13 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:49,520 Speaker 3: I was on a landing and I heard someone kick 14 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 3: the front door with such ferocity. I thought somebody was 15 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 3: out there playing early unsupervised. And I heard all this yelling, 16 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 3: so I was not real happy about it, and I 17 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 3: expected to see some kids out front, and I didn't. 18 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 3: It was only one boy, iron and he was about 19 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 3: twenty feet down near the drive. He was alone, nobody else, 20 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 3: and he was yelling and he was holding his stomach. 21 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:19,680 Speaker 3: So I walked over and I asked him, what's the matter, 22 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 3: and he said I've been shot. 23 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 4: But I knew he was in pain. It was clear, 24 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 4: but I really didn't think it was shot. So I 25 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 4: was like, we're gonna get you some help. I went in. 26 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:32,960 Speaker 3: I said, Iron is hurt. He says he's been shot. 27 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:35,319 Speaker 3: So they called nine one one. 28 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,759 Speaker 5: Oh hello, this is banking the cats in middle school, 29 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 5: we had a child outside that says he's spot. 30 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 3: And the principal got up and when we came out, 31 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 3: he wasn't out front anymore, only as backack was there, 32 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 3: and this silver car was pulling away from the curb. 33 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 4: We didn't know what was wrong with him, and we 34 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 4: didn't know who was in the car. 35 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 3: So one of the counselors came running up, jumped in 36 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 3: his car and followed. 37 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 6: There is a ruthless person on the loose. 38 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 7: What unnerves this community the most is the randomness of 39 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 7: the murders, ordinary people doing ordinary things. 40 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 2: They killed the five people in one day and then 41 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 2: went on the rampage for the next month. 42 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 8: It is quite a mystery. 43 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 2: The police say they have never had a crime quite 44 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 2: like this. 45 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 9: Be careful, these guys are using weapons that are going 46 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 9: to go right straight through our bulletproof. 47 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:29,519 Speaker 10: Vest White. 48 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 2: From iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV. This is Monster DC Sniper. 49 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 2: Thirteen year old Iron Brown arrived at Tasker Middle School 50 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,080 Speaker 2: at about seven thirty am on October seventh. It seemed 51 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 2: to be a completely normal Monday morning, except, of course, 52 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 2: a sniper was on the loose in the DC area, 53 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 2: and on this morning, Iron Brown became the sniper, his 54 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:04,239 Speaker 2: eighth victim. But before school officials could get help to him, 55 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 2: Iron Brown disappeared. John Lloyd was the principal at Tasker 56 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 2: Middle School. He explained what was happening to a nine 57 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:12,080 Speaker 2: one one dispatcher. 58 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 8: How were you the principals to school. 59 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 5: Did somebody's drive off with him here? 60 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 10: I don't know where. 61 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 8: I had no idea. 62 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 3: It turns out, you know, his aunt had dropped him 63 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 3: off and then went to pull away. It must have 64 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 3: occurred immediately because she hadn't gotten out of the parking 65 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 3: lot yet. 66 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 4: And then it turns out she did hear the shot, 67 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 4: so she came back. But we didn't know that. We 68 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 4: didn't know who was taking him. 69 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 7: My first, Oh my god, I think I'm going to 70 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 7: be able to drive wind Nasty to the hospital. 71 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 5: What's the matter with him? He just got shot. 72 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 8: He is gonna die. 73 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 2: Iron Brown's aunt, Tanya Brown, actually called nine one one 74 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 2: as she rushed him to the hospital. 75 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 7: So are you okay? 76 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,480 Speaker 2: Tanya was trapped in the morning rush hour traffic and 77 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 2: Iron was bleeding out in her car. 78 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 11: I gotta go. 79 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 12: Let me go, mis Brown, this Brown, I need you. 80 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 4: But I'm almost there. 81 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 12: I'm getting ready to turn in right now. 82 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: He didn't see who shot if he doesn't know, I. 83 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 8: Didn't see anybody, and he didn't see anybody. 84 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 5: No, okay, go ahead and go in the yarm. 85 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 13: We're gonna send user out, Okay. 86 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 4: Okay, all right. 87 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 3: You know, we knew within ten minutes fifteen minutes that 88 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 3: he was shot, that his injuries were extensive, and that 89 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 3: he was going to be met of back to Children's 90 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 3: And then at that point, you know, the buses were 91 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 3: starting to show up, the onslaught of media and police 92 00:04:55,880 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 3: presence was just crazy or helicopters in the air from 93 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:06,479 Speaker 3: every Newton's agency, the FBI was on safe and then 94 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,040 Speaker 3: of course, immediately, like within minutes, parents start calling I'm 95 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 3: coming to get my kids. We had at the time 96 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 3: maybe thirteen hundred kids, and by the end of the 97 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 3: day we had twenty three left. 98 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 7: I really understand that parents are concerned, but I think 99 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 7: under the circumstances, the safest place for the children right 100 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 7: now is inside of that building. We're adults, so we're 101 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 7: not going to dismiss school. We're going to keep school 102 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 7: in session, and we are going to secure students within buildings. 103 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 8: I'm almost positive they said do not come to the school. 104 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 8: But I did make it to the school. So there's 105 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:49,040 Speaker 8: hundreds of other parents. It's very difficult to tell a 106 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 8: parent I had to come to the school when your 107 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 8: job could have been in danger. My name is Jerald Caverer. 108 00:05:55,480 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 8: I live in Brandywine, Maryland. I woke up that more it. 109 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 8: I spoke to my wife and my kids, and from 110 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 8: my understanding, she was going to take him to school. 111 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,840 Speaker 8: My son was attending Taska Middle School, so of course 112 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 8: she's doing normal kids. Goodbye, I have a good day, behave. 113 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,160 Speaker 8: As I was leaving, oh my side, a bunch of 114 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 8: police cars and amulans and fire trucks over by the school, 115 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 8: and I thought about stopping over there, but then I said, 116 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:29,040 Speaker 8: now let me get out of here. It's too much trafficking. 117 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 8: So I get on abut fifty and I hear on 118 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,159 Speaker 8: the radio that's breaking news a boy had been shot 119 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 8: at Benjamin Taska Middle School. So from that point I'm 120 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:42,720 Speaker 8: driving fast down Route fifty to the school and calling 121 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 8: my wife to find out what's going on. Is she 122 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,159 Speaker 8: taking to school? And say, okay, she's not answering the phone. 123 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 8: I went to the school. It was chaotic. There were 124 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 8: children everywhere that the parents everywhere that were police, five personnel, ambulance, emtens, 125 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 8: unbelievable singing, and I'm walking through the parking lot. There 126 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 8: was a lot of kindents greeting their children in tears 127 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 8: of joy that it wasn't their child that was shot. 128 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,679 Speaker 8: And I'm scanning the scanning. I finally located my son, 129 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 8: who broke down in tears and it was a big 130 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 8: release to know that he was okay. At the same time, 131 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 8: it was sad. My son actually took a classes too 132 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 8: with the young man who was shot. Very emotional day. 133 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 8: I mean, just to know that mostarn could have been 134 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 8: a target. It's a scary fellow. 135 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 2: Imagine learning that someone had been shot at your child's school. 136 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 2: As a parent, there's no bigger fear than finding out 137 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 2: it was your child who was injured, but while adults 138 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 2: were coming to pick up their children, Iron Brown was 139 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 2: rushed into surgery. 140 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 11: The youngster came into the hospital and he had already 141 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:04,280 Speaker 11: bled a significant amount, was already getting transfusions, so he 142 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 11: was not in good shape. My name is Martin Eichelberger. 143 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 11: I am a pediatric surgeon at Children's National Medical Center. 144 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 11: During the day, early morning, I happened to be called 145 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 11: by our communications center said, look, you better look at 146 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 11: the TV here because of the fact that there was 147 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:24,680 Speaker 11: some youngster that has just been shot. That was enough 148 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 11: to know that we were going to have to operate 149 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 11: on this youngster within what's called the golden hour. Your 150 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 11: chances of survival from any kind of injury is much 151 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 11: greater if you can get curtical care within the first hour. 152 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 11: So we started to get our team ready. What we 153 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,199 Speaker 11: did learn was that he had been taken to one 154 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 11: of the urgent care centers that was close to this 155 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 11: middle school. They did a terrific job over there of 156 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 11: resuscitating this youngster by making sure he had an IV 157 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:55,720 Speaker 11: They put a tube in his chest because he had 158 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 11: been shot in his left chest. Took probably a half 159 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 11: hour from the time he was shot to the time 160 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,719 Speaker 11: he got to us. During the operation, there are a 161 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 11: lot of different steps that were involved. He had a 162 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 11: gunshot wound just underneath his zyphoid and it went through 163 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,319 Speaker 11: the rib and ended up if you can think of 164 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 11: a trajectory up towards his scapula, the tip of his scapula, 165 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 11: which is a little bit on the lower side. And 166 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 11: he had an injury that basically hit several organs in 167 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 11: the abdomen and also his diaphragm and his lung. And 168 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,320 Speaker 11: it took a while to make sure that all of 169 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 11: these organs were properly dealt with as we were going along, 170 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 11: and it was an hour and a half two hour operation. 171 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 11: He got stabilized to he stopped bleeding. We were able 172 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 11: to treat his lung without having to take any of 173 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 11: the lung out. A couple of the organs similarly were 174 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 11: partially had to be removed, but in general he tolerated 175 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 11: very very well. He's lucky because the bullet, you know, 176 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,200 Speaker 11: if the angle had been just a little bit more 177 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 11: towards the middle, it would have hit his heart. You know, 178 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:11,679 Speaker 11: there's nothing really we probably would have been able to do. 179 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 11: So even though we have a great team not all 180 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 11: patients survive, and so we were happy just to have 181 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:24,080 Speaker 11: him stable. And during that time there was an effort 182 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 11: by the enforcement community to try to retrieve the bullet. 183 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:33,040 Speaker 2: Doctor Eichelberger's colleague, Kurt Newman was in charge of communicating 184 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:34,079 Speaker 2: with the police. 185 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 11: And so doctor Newman came to me and said, this 186 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 11: is what they want to try to get the bullet. 187 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:42,679 Speaker 11: Would it be easy to do? And I looked at 188 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,079 Speaker 11: the X ray and put my finger down where I 189 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:48,560 Speaker 11: thought the bullet was, and yes, I could palpit it 190 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:52,080 Speaker 11: with my finger. I was able to pull out this bullet. 191 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 11: I gave it specifically to doctor Newman, who gave it 192 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:59,439 Speaker 11: to a specific person to make sure that that chain 193 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 11: of evidence was keptain tact. 194 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 14: When we were contacted about what had happened, and of 195 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:15,320 Speaker 14: course we all sat and shocked. 196 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 15: We just couldn't believe, and we kept asking, are you sure? 197 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 15: Are you sure? My name is doctor Wayne R. Curtis's 198 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:25,679 Speaker 15: cousin to the Brown family. 199 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 14: We're obviously very scared and anxious about what was going 200 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,839 Speaker 14: to happen with him having gotten shot like that at 201 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 14: such a young age. 202 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 15: And that he would come out of it okay. 203 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,840 Speaker 14: But it's time told he's doing okay, but at that 204 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 14: time we were just all just concerned. 205 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:46,880 Speaker 15: For his life. 206 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 14: We went to the hospital with my sons to visit 207 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:52,959 Speaker 14: with him. 208 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 15: At that point in time, there was a request to 209 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:57,440 Speaker 15: meet with the press. 210 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 2: National media wanted Iron Brown's parents to provide a statement, 211 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:05,320 Speaker 2: but Curtis has the parents were still processing their shock. 212 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:09,199 Speaker 14: So as we came out the back of the hospital 213 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 14: to approach the press corps, you can imagine if you're 214 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 14: not in front of something like that before and you've 215 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,080 Speaker 14: got I mean god, it must have been fifty people 216 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:21,160 Speaker 14: with cameras and asking questions and it can be unnerving. 217 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:23,719 Speaker 14: As we were walking up the hallway, I don't think 218 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 14: we got more than five steps onto the sidewalk after 219 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 14: the building and just said, look, we can't do this. 220 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 15: You should do this, and I said, okay, I'll do it. 221 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 16: He continues to remain in critical but stable condition. He's 222 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 16: a fighter. We remain optimistic, as our doctors have told us, 223 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,439 Speaker 16: this is a marathon, not a sprint, but we are 224 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:48,600 Speaker 16: confident that we will make it to the finish line. 225 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 14: Do you think about the magnitude of a child, any 226 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:56,640 Speaker 14: person getting shot, but you know when children get shot, 227 00:12:56,679 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 14: It sort of magnifies it even more. 228 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 15: Had psychological issues from a current. 229 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 17: The family as much as possible, they try to normalize 230 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:17,240 Speaker 17: his life and their lives of a very, very unfortunate tragedy. 231 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 2: Iron Brown was alive and safe, but back at Tasker 232 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:25,080 Speaker 2: Middle School, authorities were still trying to make sense of 233 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 2: the attack. What kind of person would shoot a thirteen 234 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:32,520 Speaker 2: year old? Soon police would get a major clue, a 235 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 2: communication from the snipers. The shooting at Tasker Middle School 236 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 2: sent the region into a frenzy. It was now clear 237 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 2: that the sniper attacks were not over, and now the 238 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:02,280 Speaker 2: discussions about who was behind the attacks can once again. 239 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 2: The question came up, is this foreign terrorism? Many in 240 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 2: the DC area certainly thought so. On the day Iron 241 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:15,320 Speaker 2: Brown was shot, wamu's Kojo Nandi show field that live 242 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 2: calls about the shooting. 243 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 5: I'm concerned about my kids safety because I think this 244 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 5: shooter or shooters is trying to make a statement that 245 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 5: I can shoot Americans anytime, any place, anywhere I want to, 246 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 5: and they're doing it around the nation's capital to make 247 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 5: a statement. 248 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 12: I was calling an agreement with your past caller mentioning 249 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 12: some ties between the shootings and terrorism, and I just 250 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 12: see this as being completely related to the timing of 251 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:46,000 Speaker 12: what's going on today in our country. 252 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 2: And the media had helped fuel that fear. All over 253 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 2: cable news TV stations were speculating that this was quite 254 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 2: possibly an act of terror. 255 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 6: He is orchestrating this whole event really to spread fear, 256 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 6: to spread terror, because he wants to be in charge, 257 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:09,200 Speaker 6: and he is executing people just to show his power. 258 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:16,239 Speaker 18: It became pretty clear to people that these random shootings 259 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:20,240 Speaker 18: across DC and around DC were linked. 260 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 2: This is journalists and historian Garret Graff. He says, it 261 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 2: made sense that people thought foreign terrorists were responsible for 262 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 2: the sniper attacks. 263 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 18: There was a very quick realization that this could be 264 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 18: the next stage of a terror campaign. You had people 265 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 18: begin to call in suspicious activity reports all over the city. 266 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:48,240 Speaker 18: This was, in some ways, maybe exactly the second wave 267 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 18: that we had been led to fear was coming ever 268 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 18: since the nine to eleven attacks. In some ways, the 269 00:15:55,880 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 18: idea that these sniper killings would be somehow linked to 270 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 18: Al Qaeda seemed a very logical theory at the time. 271 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 18: The idea that here you had a terrorist really aiming 272 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 18: to undermine Americans just going about their daily lives, you know, 273 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 18: making it impossible to do the things that hundreds of 274 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 18: millions of Americans literally had to do every day, Go 275 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:29,080 Speaker 18: buy groceries, fill up your car with gas, a drive 276 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:35,120 Speaker 18: to work. The attacks on these commuters, these workers, these 277 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 18: families around DC, in some ways seemed a very logical 278 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 18: next stage of Al Qaeda targeting the homeland and really 279 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:51,359 Speaker 18: threatened to make ordinary daily life in America insecure. 280 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:55,480 Speaker 2: While the country was debating who was behind these attacks, 281 00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 2: investigators were working to find the sniper. Following the shooting 282 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 2: of Iron Brown, police shut down the area surrounding Tasker 283 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 2: Middle School. They began searching looking for any clues. Benjamin 284 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,399 Speaker 2: Tasker Middle School, where Iron Brown was shot, is around 285 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:20,120 Speaker 2: twenty miles east of Washington, d C. And about seventy 286 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:25,359 Speaker 2: five miles northeast of where the last shooting occurred in Spotsylvania, Virginia. 287 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 2: Was there something special about this school that drew the 288 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:31,640 Speaker 2: snipers this far out? I went to see for myself, 289 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 2: and as we pulled up, I noticed the school was 290 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,879 Speaker 2: right next to a highway Route fifty and it was 291 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 2: surrounded by thick wooded areas. Maybe this was the ideal 292 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 2: spot to hide with a quick getaway nearby. It was 293 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:49,920 Speaker 2: in these woods that authorities searched for evidence after the shooting. 294 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:52,600 Speaker 2: I asked one of the investigators to meet me here 295 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 2: and walked me through what happened on the morning of 296 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:55,639 Speaker 2: October seventh. 297 00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 19: My name is Mike Pyle with the United States Marshall Service. 298 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 19: Over see our canine operations program, and back in two 299 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 19: thousand and two, my partner was Explosive Detection K nine 300 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 19: Beacon and he was trained for explosives and weapons detection. 301 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 13: I'm curious as to the jurisdictional lines here. Right, a 302 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,240 Speaker 13: number of agencies are here. Tell me why the US 303 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,960 Speaker 13: Martial Service is called in so it's about resources. 304 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,160 Speaker 19: We're not coming in here to obviously lead the investigation. 305 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:29,720 Speaker 19: This is PG County, so obviously PG County Police Department, 306 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,359 Speaker 19: this is their scene. But there's not a lot of 307 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,320 Speaker 19: dogs back then that were trained specifically to find guns 308 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:38,439 Speaker 19: and shellcasings. They had bomb dogs, but some of the 309 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 19: bomb dogs are not trained to that level of evidence recovery. 310 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:47,920 Speaker 19: ATL trained dogs literally are sniffing explosives, probably multiple times 311 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 19: a day because we have to feed them. 312 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:53,639 Speaker 2: To train dogs like beacon and maintain their sensitivity to 313 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:56,680 Speaker 2: certain odors. The dogs are only fed when they detect 314 00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:57,680 Speaker 2: the odors correctly. 315 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,159 Speaker 19: It's classical conditioning. When the dogs come in order, beacon 316 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 19: would start salivating because it's Pavlov's theory, you know, the 317 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,159 Speaker 19: bell rings he anticipates in the food coming in, so 318 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,080 Speaker 19: they automatically salivate. So those are the changes that we 319 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:11,640 Speaker 19: look for. 320 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:13,160 Speaker 20: So if the dog says, hey, I. 321 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:15,080 Speaker 19: Give you the indication that the contract is, you have 322 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:16,960 Speaker 19: kay me that the payment. 323 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 20: Is the food. 324 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,440 Speaker 2: So Michael, take me back to the day. 325 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 13: How does that day start for you? 326 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 19: On October seventh, two thousand and two. By the time 327 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 19: I got here, it was a pretty chaotic scene. They 328 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 19: had the streets blocked off, a lot of law enforcement, 329 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:34,240 Speaker 19: a lot of onlookers, a lot of media. The one 330 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 19: thing that really struck to me was actually where we're 331 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 19: standing right now was Iron Brown's backpack. You could see 332 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:42,199 Speaker 19: definitely to see a little bit of a pool of 333 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:46,120 Speaker 19: blood that was still left there. Someone said that they 334 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 19: saw somebody or heard a gunshot on the front of 335 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:50,920 Speaker 19: the school up on that hill, so. 336 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:52,960 Speaker 13: That would be across the street from the cross. 337 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,439 Speaker 19: The street, and of course that white box truck. They 338 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:57,240 Speaker 19: said that they saw white box truck. 339 00:19:57,720 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 15: That up in the hill. 340 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:01,199 Speaker 19: To hear kind of did makes sense to us. You 341 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,840 Speaker 19: would have to literally bend a bullet if that was 342 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,280 Speaker 19: how the shot was taking. Well, if you were to 343 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 19: do the shooting, where would you put yourself? The obvious 344 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:12,879 Speaker 19: place was probably right in the woods. So from the 345 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:14,480 Speaker 19: front of the building the right side, if you walk 346 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:16,639 Speaker 19: out of the school on the right side, there's a 347 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 19: little bit of a wooded area and then it goes 348 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:21,879 Speaker 19: to a park. So I selected my search area and 349 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:26,720 Speaker 19: actually started to search. We started in searching. We get 350 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:31,439 Speaker 19: to about midway in maybe seven to ten feet out 351 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,680 Speaker 19: to the woodline, and there was a tree and there 352 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 19: was a huge branch that was falling down. He stopped 353 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,160 Speaker 19: and he searched the branch that was underground. And honestly, 354 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 19: I actually wasn't paying attention to at that point because 355 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 19: I was actually watching my step. So I had turned 356 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:52,639 Speaker 19: my head to look at where I'm gonna put my foot. 357 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,400 Speaker 19: Next I heard the PG County officer said, hey, look 358 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 19: at your dog. So I turned around. He started to 359 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 19: racket racket, meaning he's in order, but he wants to 360 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 19: get to where the most of the orders coming from 361 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 19: left to right, left to right, left to right. Boom, 362 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 19: he sniffs and he sits and a big drool comes out. 363 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 19: So once that occurred, we stopped PG County officer, the 364 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:17,520 Speaker 19: PG County officer, the SWAT officer. 365 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 20: Well, the officers went out, got some of. 366 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,720 Speaker 19: The evidence technicians to come in, and they all start 367 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,600 Speaker 19: to actually literally search this area. And then I was 368 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 19: told that the shewcasing was located. If you step back 369 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:33,199 Speaker 19: five ten feet, unless you really look, you're not going 370 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 19: to see somebody hiding there. So if you kind of 371 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 19: actually look, it's a perfect line of sight. So I 372 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 19: fully believe that he may have laid that rifle right 373 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:46,080 Speaker 19: on that piece of word, took the shot. The shellcasing 374 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:49,320 Speaker 19: comes out, and it's that area where they located the shellcasing, 375 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,680 Speaker 19: and with that they've worked their way backwards and that's 376 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 19: where they find the terror card. 377 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,479 Speaker 2: A tarot card, one from a special deck of cards 378 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 2: that some say can predict the future. And the shooters 379 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:14,200 Speaker 2: didn't just leave any card. They left the death card 380 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:18,000 Speaker 2: on It was a skeletal night, riding a white horse 381 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:21,359 Speaker 2: and holding a black flag. This image is said to 382 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:25,600 Speaker 2: show that no one escapes death, whether rich or poor, 383 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:29,720 Speaker 2: young or old. The card seemed to perfectly capture the 384 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:34,679 Speaker 2: sniper's mo o. No one is safe, everyone is vulnerable. 385 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,159 Speaker 2: But the more disturbing aspect was what was written on 386 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:42,679 Speaker 2: the card. For you, mister police, call me God. Do 387 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:44,440 Speaker 2: not release to the press. 388 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:46,440 Speaker 20: Now they've got a God complex. 389 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 2: This is retired Maryland State Police Lieutenant David Reichenbach. 390 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:54,920 Speaker 9: So at least we're starting to get a picture of 391 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:58,879 Speaker 9: what we're dealing with here that card. 392 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:01,640 Speaker 20: At that time, I'd didn't even know about it, and I. 393 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,440 Speaker 9: Was a commander in charge of the criminal intelligence part 394 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,240 Speaker 9: of it. That was kept very very close to the vest, 395 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 9: and for good reason, we didn't want that to get 396 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:15,520 Speaker 9: out there, but unfortunately it did. You know, the following day, 397 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 9: which was Tuesday, October eighth, WUSA Channel nine breaks the 398 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:23,080 Speaker 9: story about the tarot card, and for us, that was 399 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 9: a punch in the gut. 400 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,080 Speaker 21: More about that calling card. It was left at the 401 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:29,919 Speaker 21: scene of the most recent shooting. That's the school in 402 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:32,880 Speaker 21: Prince George's County. It was a card from a fortune 403 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,879 Speaker 21: telling deck that's known as the death card, with a 404 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 21: note written on it, dear Policeman, I am God. It's 405 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:44,920 Speaker 21: the latest chilling development in this chilling case and massive investigation. 406 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:48,399 Speaker 9: That wasn't supposed to be released, that didn't need to 407 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:52,680 Speaker 9: be released at that point, and there it is all 408 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 9: over network news, which meant we had an internal leak 409 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:01,320 Speaker 9: that actually plagued this investigation throughout the entire twenty three days. 410 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 9: Quite honestly, evidence was getting leaked that you want to 411 00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:08,200 Speaker 9: hold close to the vest. 412 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 20: And there's a couple of reasons behind that. 413 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,920 Speaker 9: You never release everything that you know about a homicide 414 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 9: for the simple reason that whoever the bad guy is 415 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 9: should be the only other person other than the police 416 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:20,840 Speaker 9: that really knows what happened. 417 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,840 Speaker 2: By this point, police were receiving hundreds of calls every 418 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 2: day on their tip line. Now that the Tarot card 419 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 2: information was public, the number of calls only increased, and 420 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:34,760 Speaker 2: at times the phones were so busy that callers couldn't 421 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,679 Speaker 2: get through. It became too much for police to handle, 422 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:40,960 Speaker 2: and they had troubled figuring out which tips were good 423 00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:42,280 Speaker 2: and which ones weren't. 424 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 9: With everything being put out there in the media. Now 425 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:50,159 Speaker 9: we've got what I always called our confessors calling confessing 426 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,240 Speaker 9: that they're the shooters. 427 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:54,360 Speaker 7: I'm the ciphers. 428 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 8: Oh, he describer, I want to hear someone tied. 429 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:06,800 Speaker 10: Up just a time with suff pas. 430 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,919 Speaker 9: There's all sorts of psychological reasons why people do that, 431 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,240 Speaker 9: but it happens all the time, and the more media 432 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,399 Speaker 9: attention a case has, the more of these kind of 433 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:19,080 Speaker 9: folks that you have come out. 434 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 20: Of the woodwork for whatever reason. 435 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,560 Speaker 9: And fortunately most of the time you can quickly dispel 436 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,399 Speaker 9: them and eliminate them very quickly because they don't have 437 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:32,480 Speaker 9: enough information. They can't even describe the crime scene, so 438 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:35,639 Speaker 9: you know they didn't do it. However, with all the 439 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:38,680 Speaker 9: information being out there and now the Tarot card, these 440 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:41,760 Speaker 9: people are calling with enough information that you just can't 441 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,000 Speaker 9: ignore them. So now these folks had to go on 442 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,920 Speaker 9: the suspect list, so was creating quite a few red 443 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:49,520 Speaker 9: herrings for. 444 00:25:49,560 --> 00:26:07,119 Speaker 2: US police weren't happy about the Tarot card getting leaked 445 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:10,159 Speaker 2: to the public, but the media felt it was necessary 446 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,679 Speaker 2: to publish that information. Dave Statner was a reporter for 447 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 2: Channel nine. His station broke the story about the Tarot card. 448 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 22: The Tarot card was first internally at our station, reported 449 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 22: by a reporter at Channel and I named Stacy Kohen. 450 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 22: She found out about this Tarot card in this message 451 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,440 Speaker 22: from the apparent snipers to police, and it was soon 452 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:32,920 Speaker 22: confirmed by Mike Buchanan. He was one heck of a 453 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,520 Speaker 22: reporter and if Mike and Stacy are telling me they 454 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 22: have this information, I know it's true. And we didn't 455 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 22: immediately go with the story. They worked with police. They 456 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:43,879 Speaker 22: let them know what we have and say give us 457 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,200 Speaker 22: a good reason why we shouldn't go with us, because 458 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,720 Speaker 22: reporters don't want to screw up an investigation. We want 459 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:50,640 Speaker 22: to get our information out there, but we don't want 460 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,399 Speaker 22: to make it harder to catch people who are involved 461 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 22: in crimes. Our news director at the time was involved 462 00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:00,760 Speaker 22: in it, and they all dealt with police, and not 463 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 22: one person in Prince George's County Police or in Montgomery 464 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 22: County Police said please don't air this information. And I 465 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,879 Speaker 22: believe they aired it a short time later when it 466 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:14,920 Speaker 22: aired and the Washington Post also did the same story. 467 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:17,640 Speaker 22: The set off the Chief of Police of Montgomery County, 468 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 22: Charles Moose, who pretty much attacked both news organizations for 469 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:22,600 Speaker 22: reporting that story. 470 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:26,440 Speaker 23: I have not received any message that the citizens of 471 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:30,720 Speaker 23: Montgomery County won't Channel nine or the Washington Post or 472 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 23: any other media outlet to solve this case. 473 00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:35,040 Speaker 20: If they do, then't let me know. 474 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:37,919 Speaker 23: We will go and do other police work and we 475 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:40,840 Speaker 23: would turn this case over to the media. But today 476 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 23: the people in my community have asked the police department 477 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,720 Speaker 23: to work the case. So I beg of the media 478 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 23: let us do our job, because I am convinced that 479 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:54,159 Speaker 23: we're broaching interference. If my team feels it's important to 480 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,560 Speaker 23: put things out there, that's sad. And if the media 481 00:27:57,640 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 23: feels that it is their job to put things out 482 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 23: there so today can be promoted, then that is also sad. 483 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:09,159 Speaker 2: Chief Moose had singled out Channel nine and The Washington Post, 484 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:12,679 Speaker 2: the two media outlets who first broke the tarot card story. 485 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 2: Washington Post reporter Josh White took issue with Chief Moose's comments. 486 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 24: That tarot card was a really important piece of both 487 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:25,680 Speaker 24: the investigation and the public's understanding of what was happening. 488 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,399 Speaker 24: While certainly they are always going to be things that 489 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:31,199 Speaker 24: law enforcement doesn't want out, and they're going to be 490 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:33,600 Speaker 24: things that they want to keep from the public in 491 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:36,919 Speaker 24: order to help them solve crimes, Frankly, our job is 492 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 24: to find out what those things are and responsibly report 493 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,880 Speaker 24: what we believe will help further the public's understanding of 494 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:47,960 Speaker 24: the situation. In the grand scheme of things, there are 495 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 24: plenty of things in every investigation that I'm sure the 496 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,760 Speaker 24: police wish weren't out there, but by the same token, 497 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 24: for us to report it, we have to know about it, 498 00:28:57,080 --> 00:28:59,000 Speaker 24: and for us to know about it, that means someone 499 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:03,600 Speaker 24: deeply involve the investigation feels that it's information that should 500 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,200 Speaker 24: be out there, or we wouldn't know about it. There 501 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:10,080 Speaker 24: were aspects throughout the investigation that someone said this is 502 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 24: going to cause harm. That's something we take seriously and 503 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:17,040 Speaker 24: certainly way as we make decisions. In that particular case 504 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 24: with the Tarot card, trying to understand at all what 505 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,960 Speaker 24: this was about was of the most important aspect of 506 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:26,480 Speaker 24: what we could do as journalists. 507 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:31,760 Speaker 2: It's a tricky situation for police. It's imperative to maintain 508 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:35,880 Speaker 2: control over sensitive information. As a journalist, you have to 509 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:39,320 Speaker 2: inform the public about what's going on, but you also 510 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 2: don't want to report anything that might interfere with the investigation, 511 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 2: So reporters have to make a tough decision. At the 512 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,160 Speaker 2: end of the day, the media and law enforcement simply 513 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 2: might not agree on what should be published. But in 514 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 2: this case, White thinks it was important to release the 515 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 2: tarot card info for another reason. To him, it indicated 516 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,200 Speaker 2: that the attack was not the work of foreign terrorists, 517 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 2: and that was something the public needed to understand. 518 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:12,360 Speaker 24: It immediately changed how people looked at this. It was 519 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:17,000 Speaker 24: no longer maybe al Qaeda or ISIS. It was certainly 520 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:21,400 Speaker 24: a version of terrorism. People were terrified, but it changed 521 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:23,920 Speaker 24: the nature of I think how everybody looked at it. 522 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,560 Speaker 2: What about law enforcement? Did they still see this as 523 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:30,680 Speaker 2: possibly connected to foreign terrorism? 524 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 10: Well, I think everyone had to consider that potential. I 525 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,480 Speaker 10: think you had to say, is this the next shooter drop? 526 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:43,600 Speaker 10: Because now we've closed off the airlines, we've hardened the 527 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:47,400 Speaker 10: doors between the passengers and the pilot and co pilot. 528 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:49,480 Speaker 10: Are they going to come at us in a different 529 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 10: way now? My name is Clint Van Sant. I'm a 530 00:30:54,680 --> 00:31:00,800 Speaker 10: former FBI agent, criminal profiler, and hostage negotiator. I mean, 531 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 10: this was terror. I don't think there's any doubt that 532 00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:08,440 Speaker 10: these shooters were waging terror on the American public. The 533 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 10: question is what was the reason for that terror. You 534 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:19,120 Speaker 10: couldn't say, no, this is not some organized event. But 535 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 10: I saw and heard of no evidence of any type 536 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:29,960 Speaker 10: of international connection, the terror card, the call me God, 537 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:35,120 Speaker 10: I am God. I couldn't see a radical Islamic fundamentalist 538 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:38,800 Speaker 10: who might be doing this for his own religious purposes 539 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 10: calling himself God. I mean, that didn't make any sense. 540 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 10: I mean you would have said, I am acting on 541 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:46,920 Speaker 10: God's part, I am the hand of God, I am 542 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 10: the fist of God. Perhaps, but I am God. No, No, 543 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 10: that just did not ring true. The verbiage that was 544 00:31:55,720 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 10: used in there was nothing that would lend itself off 545 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:04,120 Speaker 10: to international terrorism, or nothing that would lend itself to 546 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:09,040 Speaker 10: someone trying to disguise themselves as a domestic terrorist when 547 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:12,680 Speaker 10: they were in fact international. Internationals normally would take credit. 548 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:15,680 Speaker 10: They want to take credit, They want to stand up 549 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:18,880 Speaker 10: and beat their chest and say look what we can do. 550 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:23,720 Speaker 10: That wasn't taking place. So in the absence of that, 551 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:27,920 Speaker 10: I think in my particular case, it seemed like more 552 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:31,760 Speaker 10: a domestic situation for a defined purpose. 553 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 2: There were a few other possibilities. When investigators met to 554 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:42,840 Speaker 2: discuss the Tarot card, someone mentioned the death cards left 555 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:45,120 Speaker 2: by soldiers in the movie Apocalypse. 556 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:51,000 Speaker 15: Now with me four diamonds like that death card. 557 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:56,480 Speaker 2: They telling, no, did it someone else remembered that God 558 00:32:56,840 --> 00:32:59,120 Speaker 2: was the nickname of the chief sniper in the nineteen 559 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:00,760 Speaker 2: ninety movie Seals. 560 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:03,680 Speaker 15: God Got Got here. 561 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:07,360 Speaker 3: God, we have a single shooter selth East Power, Yeah, 562 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:11,960 Speaker 3: I see him? 563 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 2: Was the sniper a military man, or at least a 564 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:19,920 Speaker 2: fan of military movies. Others thought the tarot card indicated 565 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:22,360 Speaker 2: the work of a serial killer with an interest in 566 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:28,560 Speaker 2: the occult. Whether these were terrorists, serial killers, or something else, 567 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:33,320 Speaker 2: it made no difference. Paranoia was at an all time high. 568 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:37,440 Speaker 2: Children were being shot in broad daylight, and the airtime 569 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:40,720 Speaker 2: devoted to the case was NonStop on nearly every major 570 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:44,040 Speaker 2: TV network. The entire country was watching. 571 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:47,920 Speaker 24: The fact that a child was shot was a pivotal moment. 572 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,040 Speaker 24: It showed a willingness on the part of the attackers 573 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:52,720 Speaker 24: to go after anybody. 574 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 2: This is Washington Post reporter Josh White. 575 00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:59,680 Speaker 24: And it was at that moment that people really changed 576 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 24: their minds about how scared to be, about how cautious 577 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:08,560 Speaker 24: to be. The schools really started responding. Any adult who 578 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:11,239 Speaker 24: lived in this region had to wonder, how do I 579 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:14,120 Speaker 24: keep my kids safe even at school? And it was 580 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,000 Speaker 24: knowledge that they were willing to invade even are what 581 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 24: are considered to be some of our safest spaces. 582 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:23,040 Speaker 2: Even President George W. Bush weighed in about the shooting 583 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:25,120 Speaker 2: of Ingram Brown a few days later. 584 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:28,680 Speaker 25: The President number one is wanted to make certain that 585 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 25: all the resources of the federal government have been made 586 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,440 Speaker 25: available through the ATF, through the FBI, and through other 587 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:35,600 Speaker 25: agencies of the federal government as well to help the 588 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:38,719 Speaker 25: local law enforcement community. And that's been done. The President 589 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:41,880 Speaker 25: urges people to take all reasonable and prodent cautions that 590 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:45,600 Speaker 25: the law enforcement community in the case that should be taken. 591 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:48,360 Speaker 6: First of all, I'm just sick to my stomach to 592 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:51,399 Speaker 6: think that there is a cold blooded killer at home 593 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:55,160 Speaker 6: taking innocent life. I weep for those who've lost their 594 00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:58,120 Speaker 6: loved ones. The idea of moms taking their kids to 595 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:00,960 Speaker 6: school and sheltering them from a potent So sniper attack 596 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:04,799 Speaker 6: is not the American I know sniper attacks well. It 597 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:06,920 Speaker 6: is a form of terrorism, but in terms of the 598 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:09,080 Speaker 6: terrorism that we think of, we have no evidence one 599 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:12,840 Speaker 6: where or the other. Obviously, but anytime anybody is randomly shooting, 600 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:16,920 Speaker 6: randomly killing, randomly, taking life, it's a cold blood and murder. 601 00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:21,799 Speaker 2: You know, it's a sick mind for investigators. The manhunt 602 00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 2: was about to get personal. A tragic turn of events 603 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:28,719 Speaker 2: would flip the investigation on its head, and the sniper's 604 00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:41,040 Speaker 2: scope was an FBI agent. Next time on Monster DC Sniper, I. 605 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:43,920 Speaker 1: Was absolutely sure that we were going to get a shooting. 606 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,879 Speaker 24: I got a call from a source saying, you need 607 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 24: to get out to Manassas. There's been another one. 608 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:53,960 Speaker 22: And the next thing I see are police officers running 609 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,120 Speaker 22: with their guns drawn to an apartment complex across the 610 00:35:57,160 --> 00:35:59,600 Speaker 22: street where there's a white vehicle that looks sort of 611 00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:00,560 Speaker 22: like a box truck. 612 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:04,520 Speaker 10: People process a lot less information than we think. They 613 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:07,280 Speaker 10: get this sense that they're seeing everything when in fact 614 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:08,880 Speaker 10: they're seeing very little. 615 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:12,480 Speaker 26: So we had a pretty good game plan, but the 616 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:17,520 Speaker 26: problem was we weren't being provided good intelligence and suspect 617 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:20,480 Speaker 26: information from the lookout that hurt us. 618 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:23,480 Speaker 22: So now the real focus is what do I do 619 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:25,440 Speaker 22: when I'm pumping guests. I have to get gasoline from 620 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:27,840 Speaker 22: my car. There are gas stations that are starting to 621 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:30,400 Speaker 22: put up barricades or harps to block you. 622 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:34,240 Speaker 24: It showed that if somebody wants to go after someone 623 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,879 Speaker 24: who they have no connection to randomly in a metropolitan area, 624 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:45,520 Speaker 24: there's millions of people, what's stopping them. 625 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:49,759 Speaker 1: Monster DZ Sniper is a fifteen episode podcast hosted by 626 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:54,239 Speaker 1: Tony Harris and produced by iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV. Matt 627 00:36:54,239 --> 00:36:58,200 Speaker 1: Frederick and Alex Williams are executive producers on behalf of iHeartRadio, 628 00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:03,000 Speaker 1: alongside producers Trevor Young, ben Keebrick, and Josh Thain. Payne 629 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:06,200 Speaker 1: Lindsay and Donald Albright are executive producers on behalf of 630 00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:11,880 Speaker 1: Tenderfoot TV alongside producers Meredith Stedman and Christina Dana. Original 631 00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:15,520 Speaker 1: music is by Makeup and Vanity Set. Special thanks to 632 00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:20,960 Speaker 1: WAMU American University Radio for usage of clips originally broadcast 633 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:23,720 Speaker 1: on October seventh, two thousand and two, on The Kojo 634 00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:27,120 Speaker 1: Namdi Show. If you haven't already, be sure to check 635 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:30,239 Speaker 1: out the first two seasons, Atlanta Monster and Monster the 636 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:34,160 Speaker 1: Zodiac Killer. If you have questions or comments, email us 637 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:38,120 Speaker 1: at Monster at iHeartMedia dot com, or you can call 638 00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:41,759 Speaker 1: us at one eight three, three two eight five six 639 00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:44,560 Speaker 1: six sixty seven. Thanks for listening.